Nats drop another one, lose 7-3 to the Marlins

The Nationals pitching is starting to get sloppy at the same time their hitting is starting to get inconsistent again. With the 7-3 loss today behind the poor start of Tim Redding the Nats have now dropped three out of their last four games, and are looking more like the team that lost so many in a row then the team we’ve seen the last two weeks. Today the team combined poor fielding, poor hitting, and just bad pitching in front of a small crowd at Nats Park. It’s nights like these that make it hard to see the bright future we keep telling ourselves this team has.

Containing Hanley-Part 2

As I had mentioned earlier this season the key to beating the Marlins is by containing the best all around player in baseball Hanley Ramirez. Hanley came into the series hitting 333 (4/12)BA, 5 R, 3 RBI, 2HR, with 3 SB against the Nats this season, and he continued to produce tonight as Redding had no answer for this young talent.
Hanley recorded only one hit, but showed what makes him great by producing without simply driving in runs. His first at bat he put the Marlins on top with a sacrifice fly, and in his second at bat he slapped a double to right putting himself an Jeremy Hermida in scoring position, which allowed them both to eventually score. Ramirez would also later walk and score again. Once again a Nats loss came at the hand of a player that may haunt us for years…but then again he does play for Florida.

Florida Marlins…A place for second chances

We spoke earlier this year about Wes Helms getting a second chance in Florida after the Phillies swallowed his salary and traded him to the Marlins for only one dollar. He’s not the only one finding new life in the sunshine state however, as former all star Jorge Cantu has found a rebirth as his career had seemed permanently derailed.

Cantu blasted onto the scene in 2005 for the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays as a 23 year old second basemen who was surprising everyone with his unprecedented development and production. Cantu batted .286 with 28 homers and 117 RBI’s which surprised many as scouts considered him a player not ready for the big leagues. He became a star and a focal point in the development of a young Tampa Bay team, and even a major spokesperson for Major League Baseball in their World Baseball Classic campaign.

Things turned around fast for Cantu however. He didn’t manage to hit even .250 the next year hitting only 14 homers and getting on base only .295% of the time. Tampa Bay wanted to send him down to Tripple A, but Cantu didn’t like the idea. He refused to report to Durham and demanded a trade…he eventually found himself unable to stay on the big league club for the Reds in 2007…and by the end of the season was cut. It looked to most baseball fans that the once bright rising star was already burnt out. The Marlins signed him to a small deal to see if he could fill in at third for the departing Miguel Cabrera. It was one of those “why not,” situations for the Marlins; much as Dimitri Young was for the Nationals. Cantu however has disproved many as he is producing at a high level for a team that has found its way to first place. So far this season Cantu is batting .287 with 5 homers and 16 RBI’s, he went 2-4 tonight with 2 RBI’s as well.
Next second chance Marlins to be covered this series: Luis Gonzalez and Matt Treanor.

GUZMAN WATCH!

This is going to be a new addition to the Nats blog. Guzman is slow, poor in the field, and incredibly overrated. His contract expires at the end of this season and it would just be plain foolish to resign him. So I’m officially starting the rallying cry to ship him out so we can get something for him at the break as opposed to nothing at the end of the season. Some team will want a .300 hitting short stop at the break, even if its an empty .300. So here goes:

Guzman had a solid day at the plate today racking up two more hits and raising his batting average to .310. Guzman also recorded a run and RBI in the Nats losing effort.

Guzman also continued his amazing defensive prowess by missing two line drives that seemed catchable as well as missing a pick on what was not a terrible throw from Wil Nieves (which led to a run).

Box Score

Nats vs. Marlins series preview

The Nationals will travel south to try and stop a three game skid where they will face the division leading Florida Marlins. The Nats (4-12) and the Marlins (9-6) have seen their seasons start in opposite directions. The Marlins, a team who traded away their best hitter and pitcher in the off season, had extremely low expectations coming into 2008. Good young hitters and developing pitchers however have been the key to their early success (as it has always been for the Marlins). The Nats on the other hand came into the season with a feeling that this would finally be the year that they would arrive. The new ball park for Washington gave the team legitimacy and a collection of young prospects finally reaching the majors left Nats fans with hope. So far that hope has been unrealized.

Is Hanley Ramirez the best player in baseball?

In the NL east one of the hottest debates is over who is better, the Mets Jose Reyes or the Phillies Jimmie Rollins (its Reyes by the way). Often overlooked however is the actual best shortstop in the Division, if not the best player overall in baseball, Florida’s Hanley Ramirez. Ramirez, 24, has been surprising baseball fans with the quickness of his development since he was traded away by the Red Sox for Josh Beckett in 2006. That same year Ramirez beat out the Nats own Ryan Zimmerman to become the National League rookie of the year, and hasn’t looked back since.

Ramirez put up monster numbers last year (.332 BA. .386 OBP. 29 HR. 52 SB). He fell only one home run short of reaching the 30-30 club and finished fourth in the league in batting. Had the Marlins made the playoffs, he likely would have been the National League MVP.

Ramirez is continuing his development in 2008 (.373BA .448 OBP 3HR 2SB). For the Nationals to be successful they must be able to silent Hanley’s bat and force the other Marlins to beat them. Just as with Reyes in the Mets series, the Marlins success lies in the legs and bat of Hanley Ramirez.

Probable Starters:

Game 1: Tim Redding (2-1, 2.25 ERA) vs. Andrew Miller (0-2, 11.37 ERA)
Game 2: Shawn hill (0-0, -- ERA) vs. Burke Badenhop (0-1, 6.00 ERA)
Game 3: Odalis Perez (0-3, 4.35 ERA) vs. Scott Olsen (2-0, 3.05 ERA)

What to look for:

In order for the Nationals to be successful and start winning ball games, the hitters need to wake up. In the three game series with the Mets the Nats only scored 4 runs, only walked 12 times and left 44 runners on base. They struck out 26 times and only batted an awful .166. The Marlins starting pitching staff isn’t that established, and the Nats will be facing the back end of it, so there’s a possibility for their bats to come alive.

The Nationals starting pitchers need to eat up some innings this series. While all of the Nats starters reached at least the 5th inning against the Mets, the 14 inning game and the questionable health of Cordero leaves the bullpen very overworked in a 3 game span. In the long run only one Nats starter, Matt Chico, has even reached the 8th inning yet this year. If a bullpen gets tired and agitated too early in the year, it can sometimes never recover.

Shawn Hill, the staff ace, will make his first start of the year Saturday after coming off of a sore arm. While he admits he is not at 100% yet, if he pitches well this weekend it can certainly be a moral boost for a clearly demoralized team.